Jachin and Zoe had their first duet recital tonight. They’d been practicing with the neighbor kids for weeks and weeks, and the night finally came. There were some nerves… I thought Jachin was actually going to throw up at a certain point before his performance. And when they called Zoe’s name, she stood up from her seat but wouldn’t walk over to the piano without a little coaxing.  But they did just fine. They did fabulously, in fact.

Here they are after the recital with their certificates:

And for the video:

Oh! Susannah

Ode to Joy

Chop Sticks

(You can tell that he likes playing this one. And I love that he’s all worried about someone turning the page for them.)

Echo March

Sweetheart Tag
The rules are as follows:

Each person answers questions about their sweetheart. At the end of the post, the person tags 6 people and posts their names. Then, go to their blog and leave them a comment letting them know they have been tagged.

What is your husband’s name? Jonny G, known in the cyberworld as “Donjuanica”

How long have you been married: 10 years, baby

How long did you date? About a year and a half. I knew him for about 6 months before we started dating, though. He was actually engaged to someone else when I first met him.

How old is he? 35

Who is taller? Only two people in the world are shorter than me: Mary Lou Retton and Gary Coleman. Jon is neither of these people.

Who can sing best? We probably sing about the same, but I like to sing and he doesn’t so much.

Who is smarter? Him… on the left side of the brain, anyway. He is able to be very analytical and I’m more creative and nuts.

Who does laundry? Me.

Who pays the bills? I physically pay the bills with the money he brings home.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Like, the right side when you’re looking at the bed, or lying in the bed? Looking at the bed: me.

Who mows the lawn? Jon

Who cooks dinner? Usually me, but Jon’s actually the better cook.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We’re both okay with admitting when we’re wrong. Neither of us is too stubborn…usually.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me, and it’s a very sweet story. The boy had some moves, I tell ya.

Who wears the pants? Skinny pants: him. Maternity pants: me.

I’m tagging anyone who wants to brag about their sweetie.

Guess what I did Saturday night? I totally partied. Like a rock star. Like someone who isn’t old and pregnant and totally uncool.

But first, a little backstory: My very first concert was when I was 12. It was New Kids on the Block and Tiffany. But really, at the time I wasn’t as interested in Tiffany as I was in the New Kids. Donnie in particular. He was the “bad boy” of the group. See, here he is wearing a badass bandana and a shirt with skulls… and not just regular skulls, but skulls that eat their own crossbones!!

I know, totally hot, right? And when I was 12, I thought that I was going to marry this guy. But then I got a little older and figured out that although it’s fun to date the bad boys, you don’t marry them. (Just to clarify though: I never had the chance to actually date Donnie.) That first concert was amazing. I squealed my guts out. Had I been close enough to the stage, I would have flung my training bra up to them. And then my mom would have made me go up there and get it back, because that would have been wasteful and over her dead body would she have shelled out another $12 for another training bra when I had a perfectly good one, but decided to throw it at some boys. I mean, that’s what would have happened, if we were front row. But we weren’t.

So Saturday?? The New Kids (hereafter referred to as NKOTB) came to Salt Lake City for their reunion tour. And I went, baby. I went with three of Jon’s five sisters, all of whom also attended NKOTB for their first concert. Two of them — the twins, Jen and Juli — also happened to be FRONT ROW at their first concert… which made me jealous, even hearing about it 18 years after the fact. I don’t know for sure if any training bras were thrown at that particular concert. And they told me that Jon, their then-teenage sweetheart of a brother, made them posters to take to the concert. Posters that he made himself with the New Kid’s faces drawn on them. And according to his sisters, Jon drew them pretty well. (And this is why I know that I married the right guy… because bad boys wouldn’t think enough of their sisters to make sweet posters for them to take to a stupid concert.)

So Saturday we drove up to Salt Lake and had our second experience with NKOTB. It had been 20 long years for me, and it was so. much. fun. As usual, I had the camera glued to my face. Because as a (recently lagging) blogger, I experience much of life through the lens (or LCD screen) in order to share it with the world. Or at least twenty or so readers. And in one way it’s good, because I had 99 pictures and video clips by the end of the night, to upload for posterity. And everyone’s all excited that I got some good shots. But I was probably the person there who was least in the moment because instead of thinking “Holy crap I can’t believe I’m here! How can I possibly get back stage and make out with Donnie??” I was thinking, “Holy crap, I hope my camera battery doesn’t die before I can get video of Jen and Juli dancing, and is my focus working right??” Yep, that’s where my head kinda was. Though there were definitely some moments where I was ga-ga over being in the presence of Donnie, and you will find that my pictures are very “Donnie Heavy”. (Sorry girls, there weren’t very many shots of Jordan.) You can totally tell who my favorite still is.

A few highlights:

In order to get into the NKOTB spirit, and channel the fashion insanity of the 80′s, we first had to all peg-roll our pants. If you were at all fashionable in the 80′s, you know what this is:

Yes, my shoes are the least attractive of the bunch. They are comfortable. And orthopedic. And if my water breaks, I’m not worried about ruining a good pair of shoes.

Joe, looking nice, and still the “baby” of the group. (But “baby” now means that he’s not yet in his 40′s.)

Jordan, who can still sing higher than most chicks I know. I can only imagine the painful rituals he goes through before hitting the stage each night.  In fact, he may be pinching himself here. I’m not sure.

The hot mamas in attendance. That’s me, Juli, Jen, Lin, and Paige down in front. Paige is a friend of all the sisters. She smacked people with her arm in order to get us lower seats. She also beat the guy at the snack bar to get us free nachos. (Not really, but I totally wanted to ask her.)

My “35 weeks” shot. In my concert t-shirt, scored in the parking lot for less than half price. Cha-ching!

And when you’re a blogger and have the camera glued to your face, you are the only one who can get the money shots like this:

… and while everyone else is saying, “Woah, did Donnie just grab his crotch?”, I am already uploading it to facebook.

And all of my neurotic blogger worrying was for nothing, because I DID get video of Jen and Juli dancing before my camera battery died:

Much love, New Kids. We out.